Thomas Maggio left his job at Hands-On Auto Tech in Longmont around 8 p.m. Nov. 27 and started heading toward his home in Big Elk Meadow outside of Lyons. While the drive usually takes about an hour, it would be more than a month before Maggio finally made it home following a crash that eventually resulted in the amputation of his left leg.

Life has begun to return to normal, with Maggio returning to work last week. But Maggio's wife, Laura Maggio, said without a huge showing of community support, including nearly $29,000 donated by 226 people through a GoFundMe page, she's not sure what they would have done.

"It's allowed us to pay our bills and has really kept us afloat, but the money is only a fragment of what people have done for him," she said. "People have really gone above and beyond for us.

"They've split wood for us, they made meals for us on a regular basis, a lot of people even got presents for our girls because the accident happened right around Christmas," Laura Maggio said. "One person actually brought a little tree to the hospital so we could decorate it together. We're just so thankful and appreciative of our community."

For those who chipped in, it was merely a matter of returning the kindness Tom Maggio had demonstrated throughout his life as a member of the Air Force, as a volunteer firefighter and most recently as an auto mechanic.

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Tim Holt, who had worked for Maggio in the past, decided to close down his own mechanic shop to help Maggio run Hands-On Auto Tech after the accident.

"It was a no-brainer," he said of his decision. "In my opinion it was the world's turn to give back to Tom and I knew this was the best way I could help. In the time I've known him, he's been very friendly when it comes to reaching into his own pocket to help out someone else and he's certainly done enough for me."

Holt even came into work on his days off to remove the tailgate from Tom Maggio's demolished truck to hang on the wall at the shop as a sort of memento.

"It was the only component on the truck that was still intact and it still had all of the shop's decals on it so I knew Tom would appreciate it," he said. "It felt good to be able to give back to him for a change."

'I'm going to die'

While his memory of the crash is understandably fuzzy, the last thing he remembers before smashing his Chevrolet truck into the back of a semi is driving 55 mph down Colo. 119 as he merged into the right-turn lane. The next thing he knew, he was awakened by the sound of sirens.

"My truck looked odd," he said. "Then I looked down and saw an awful gory mess where my left knee used to be and I passed out."

Just before passing out he said he remembers thinking, "I'm going to die," and started praying that his wife and their two little girls, Gianna and Bella, would be OK without him.

The next time he came to, firefighters had arrived on the scene at Ken Pratt Boulevard and East County Line Road and were trying to cut him out of the vehicle. That's when his training as volunteer firefighter kicked in and he began yelling at the first responders to bring him a tourniquet. Without it, he would have surely bled to death; he lost more than a gallon of blood by the time he finally got to the hospital.

Though the first responders were able to save his life, by the next morning when Maggio had been airlifted to UCHealth in Aurora, doctors began discussing the possibility of having to amputate his leg. Maggio insisted they do everything possible to save it, no matter how painful the surgeries might be.

"The doctor came to warn me one final time that I was signing up for hell with a high chance of failure and very little mobility if we succeed," he said. "I replied that I had to try. If I did not take on the fight, I would regret throwing in the towel for the rest of my life."

By the time doctors finished 11 surgeries, Maggio had been in the hospital for nearly a month, at which point the doctors found his leg had become infected with a life-threatening bacteria, forcing them to amputate. After so many surgeries, he said was actually relieved.

Home and working again, Maggio has hip, pelvis and ankle fractures ankle that will keep him using a wheelchair until March 1. Then, he will be fitted for a prosthetic leg. He's not sure he'll be able to afford the $12,000 price tag for the new leg on top of the cost of his month-long hospital stay.

Though the Maggios' GoFundMe page has raised enough money to get them back on their feet financially, with so many extensive injuries, Maggio said they will likely need as much as $12,000 more.

He said the prosthetic represents more than just a chance to walk again. It also represents his ability help his wife care for their daughters, and to help his girls "have a normal Daddy."

"It has been an odd feeling for me to ask others for help," he said. "Usually I am the volunteer, the helper, but I need ... help now."

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